"The concept of a Personal Learning Network (PLN) is a familiar concept these days. Yet, the nature of Personal Learning Networks is evolving as the range of tools available to support them increases, and our rapport with those tools becomes more sophisticated.

"The aim of this post is to outline the changes that appear to be taking shape, and to offer some practical strategies for teachers to supercharge their Personal Learning Networks."

Google+ was never the popular kid in school, and it looks like Google is finally ready to give up on the project and break it apart into services that people might actually want to use.

After a few rumors came forth, mainly thanks to an interview with Sundar Pichai, it’s now official: Google+ will be broken up into services. The confirmation came from Bradley Horowitz who announced he’s now the head of Photos and Streams, two elements of G+ that have now been spun off.

Interestingly enough, Pichai mentioned in his interview that Stream, Photos and Hangouts were each seen as individual powerful products. So far we haven’t heard what Google plans to do with Hangouts, arguably one of the more popular aspects of G+, but we’re sure that the product is here to stay, perhaps in some integrated way with YouTube.

We’re bound to learn more today, as Google is hosting an event in the afternoon.

At littleBits we believe in empowering more people around the world to be creators and not just consumers of technology. That is why we deeply care about supporting our community in their learning journey as makers. And starting today we are offering a FREE online course to help anyone around the world learn how to #InventAnything using littleBits.

COURSE DESCRIPTION"The course is free, online, and open to anyone who wants to participate. It is peer-powered by P2PU, and you can follow the five week curriculum starting on February 23rd or join in later if you want to go at your own pace. This course has been created to reach both those who are brand new to littleBits, as well as those with some experience points. At the end you will graduate with exclusive bitSTAR status, joining the leaders league of our community and unlocking a 20% discount."

"Bunkr is the fastest and best way to pull data and content from the web and put a presentation together. When you create your first slide, Bunkr will ask you to add content. Front and center, you will see buttons to pick the kind of content (like on Tumblr). Content can be an image, text, a video, a chart and more.

"But Bunkr’s true power lies behind these buttons. For example, when you click on video, you can either browse directly videos on compatible services or paste a URL from YouTube, Vimeo, Vine and many more services. It works exactly the same way for charts with Infogram and Chartblocks support, tweets, Facebook posts, SoundCloud songs, GitHub Gists, Sketchfab 3D models and more.

"And this is key to understanding Bunkr’s new approach. Instead of reinventing the wheel, the company will support as many services as possible to integrate well with your current workflow. Infogram knows charts much better than any presentation tool on the web. And if you update your chart on Infogram, it will automatically update your Bunkr presentation."

Voice Record Pro is a professional voice recorder. It allows you to record voice memos and on-site sounds at unlimited length with configurable quality. Recorded voices are in standard AAC/MP4/M4A format. Voice Record Pro can record directly in MP4 (AAC), MP3 (MPEG) and WAV (PCM) formats plus convert function for all supported formats.

Attention HS Flipped Classroom Science Educators

A message from Rebecca Hunley to all members of Flipped Learning Research on FLN's Professional Learning Community!

My name is Rebecca Hunley and I teach HS Biology. I am working on my dissertation on the Flipped HS Science Classroom. I am looking for 2 educators that would consider being a part of the research. The criteria is simple, teach HS science and have a flipped classroom for at least 2 years. I teach in East TN and can possibly visit or SKYPE if necessary. If you're interested please inbox me.

"Look over the titles and descriptions for each set below. Then decide if you'd like to have a copy of the cards mailed to you ready to go on beautiful, slick card stock, or if you'd prefer a digital download, where you can access the cards immediately for no shipping and handling costs. Either way, you're getting a great value!"

Jim Lerman's insight:

I usually don't include resources that carry a price tag, but these are so valuable and reasonable in cost that they are definitely worth checking out. Lewman (and Honeycutt) have created project assignments that combine engaging real-wprth tasks with common core skills. The cards are useful k-12 and can be applied with or without technology. A very practical and well thought out approach, Kudos! Sample cards are provided to give examples.

"U.S. Department of Education data claiming only 41% of students who start college finish is not accurate, according to a new report from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. The center studied data on freshmen entering college in 2008 and found the completion rate to be 55.03% when they considered students who graduated from a different college from where they first enrolled. The federal numbers do not track transfers."

The greatest benefit of flipped learning is the restructuring of class time, which is more of a pedagogical solution than a technological solution. However, the in-class benefit is dependent upon the utilization of technology tools. So what technologies are necessary in a flipped classroom?

Content Creation ToolsOne of the most difficult challenges for some teachers to overcome is the mastery of a content creation tool. There are so many hardware and software options out there. Where does one begin?

"This is EXACTLY what we need to be doing with our students through the use of technology! Melissa has taken down the walls of the classroom and connected her students to an authentic audience. Last January I wrote about connecting students to the world, and this is an incredible example of putting ideas into action.

"Here are three more ideas for using Google Hangouts to connect your students to others across the globe:"

Learn with us through the convenience of your device without the inconvenience or cost of travel! METC is again offering a great way to participate in and enjoy the METC 2015 Conference, even if you can't be there in person. The METC 2015 Virtual Conference will consist of live programming on Tuesday, February 10 and Wednesday, February 11. The presentations chosen for the virtual conference include those from keynote and featured speakers as well as Midwest Spotlight Educators.

"Selected presentations will be live-streamed at the times listed below. View the live presentation by clicking on the session title during the time indicated. Keep in mind that these times are approximate since this is a live event and that they are in central time. After the event, you may view the archived session recordings (available immediately after the session ends) and learn at your own pace."

Ednak is a great new resource for teachers. The site has an awesome layout, is easy to use, the tools and resources are well categorized, making it easy for teachers to find what they need. I love the notebook feature and the fact that teachers can write reviews and rate the different tools.

They can make things simple, more accessible, more visible, more compelling, more convenient–there are dozens of potential benefits to you in your classroom. Clip a web page to Evernote with a single button push. Look up a reference. Model for students how to add a citation. Send a link to colleagues without opening another tab. Find a useful resource for a lesson? Scoop it. Tweet it. Pin It. Find a post you want to read? Don’t email it to yourself–use Pocket.

The criteria we used to choose each extension? The extension had to increase your efficiency, provide a benefit to content/curriculum, allow you to connect with other teachers/parents/students, or enhance your workflow as an educator. If it has the potential to meet one of these four criteria, it was included."

This is an archived Google Hangout video and audio recording of a STEMseeds interview with elementary teacher Kevin Jarrett (@kjarrett), discussing STEM lesson plans and project ideas, his educational philosophy setting up his classroom, how he’s been using MinecraftEDU in class and more! Check out our shownotes for links to referenced resources, there are a LOT of great ones from this show!

Shortcuts. They are one of my life’s most beautiful things. Whether it be backroads, organizational hacks, or even PowerPoint tips, they make life so much easier. If you are looking to save a few precious minutes the next time you present, I have gathered a few of my favorite PowerPoint shortcuts.

"Chromebooks are getting more and more popular in education, the workplace and at home. They are very useful and capable, but I still hear, "but they are only a web browser, they can't do much", etc. when in reality, they can do pretty much everything [needed in everyday situations]. UPDATE: They also work offline, contrary to popular belief."

Jim Lerman's insight:

Andrade is a savvy participant/observer in edtech. Lots of great aids posted here.

A while back, I was asked, "What engages students?" Sure, I could respond, sharing anecdotes about what I believed to be engaging, but I thought it would be so much better to lob that question to my own eighth graders. The responses I received from all 220 of them seemed to fall under 10 categories, representing reoccurring themes that appeared again and again. So, from the mouths of babes, here are my students' answers to the question: "What engages students?"

Jim Lerman's insight:

Excellent observations for we educators, from our students, about how to engage them in their own learning. Most of this article is direct quotes from 8th graders.

New Updates Released for Google Classroom on February 25, 2015!The Google Classroom Team is at it again with 4 more updates for Google Classroom. Three of them are specifically for the mobile apps. Let's take a closer look!

Minecraft has been variously described as a game, toy sandpit, learning space, creative environment, virtual world, and game-infused service. But what really are the affordances of this blocky 16 bit program and how can we even begin to define its value to learning? Enter The Minecraft Experience, a global crowd sourced by The Massively Minecraft Project. People engaging in Minecraft activities about the globe are being invited to share all its contexts and adaptations. The categories for these experiences will emerge from the crowd sourced content as all of you contribute thoughts, media, resources and questions to build the Minecraft Experience evidence base.

Evernote just got even more useful for me with its new iOS app Scannable. In many of my past posts regarding Evernote, I have made it clear that the Evernote note taking application is my everyday "go-to" app in both my professional and personal life. With all the smartphone apps, desktops apps, and browser extensions, Evernote makes note taking and web curation simple and easy.Now, they've added an iOS app called Scannable. With this app, you can scan any document with your iPad or iPhone. You can then send it to someone by email, upload it to an Evernote notebook, place it in your photos, send it through the messaging app, or export it any number of your iCloud apps. It's rather simple interface is an added benefit.

"Today, we are excited to announce the first phase of the Skype Translator preview program. The preview program will kick-off with two spoken languages, Spanish and English, and 40+ instant messaging languages will be available to Skype customers who have signed-up via the Skype Translator sign-up page and are using Windows 8.1 on the desktop or device.

"Skype brings people together to make progress on what matters to them. Skype Translator will open up endless possibilities for people around the world to connect, communicate and collaborate; people will no longer be hindered by geography and language.

"We asked two schools to try Skype Translator – Peterson School in Mexico City, and Stafford Elementary School in Tacoma, USA – playing a game of ‘Mystery Skype’ in which the children ask questions to determine the location of the other school. One classroom of children speaking Spanish and the other speaking English, Skype Translator removed this language barrier and enabled them to communicate – the video shows their wonderful reactions."

Sharing your scoops to your social media accounts is a must to distribute your curated content. Not only will it drive traffic and leads through your content, but it will help show your expertise with your followers.

Integrating your curated content to your website or blog will allow you to increase your website visitors’ engagement, boost SEO and acquire new visitors. By redirecting your social media traffic to your website, Scoop.it will also help you generate more qualified traffic and leads from your curation work.

Distributing your curated content through a newsletter is a great way to nurture and engage your email subscribers will developing your traffic and visibility.
Creating engaging newsletters with your curated content is really easy.